Hot Topics:

City Council eyes subsidized bus service between Alamogordo and Las Cruces

By Steve Ramirez

sramirez@lcsun-news.com @SteveRamirez6 on Twitter

Posted:
09/09/2013 07:08:16 PM MDT

LAS CRUCES >> The city of Las Cruces will likely continue to provide $10,000 from its general fund to help subsidize commuter bus service to and from Alamogordo.

There was informal consensus from the council Monday to continue to help the program, which is provided by Ztrans, or Zia Therapy Center, a non-urbanized transit provider based in Alamogordo. A pilot program that operates three times Monday through Friday between Alamogordo and Las Cruces has been ongoing for almost a year, since Oct. 1, 2012.

Ztrans, has provided weekday trips from Walmart, in west Alamogordo, to locations in Las Cruces that include: Doña Ana Community College's East Mesa campus, MountainView Regional Medical Center, Mesilla Valley Mall, Memorial Medical Center, and the east parking lot at New Mexico State University's Pan American Center. The service has cost $119,600 a year to operate, with the New Mexico Department of Transportation's Transit and Rail Bureau providing $54,800 in matching funding and the balance coming from the city of Alamogordo, Otero County, and $10,000 from the city.

"This service is beneficial to the city and provides a viable regional transit option," said Lisa Murphy, city transportation director.

Advertisement

Joe Hardin, Ztrans director, said it has benefitted customers who have used the service in Doña Ana and Otero counties.

"It's had a major impact to those customers in Alamogordo and Otero County who have needed medical services in Las Cruces," Hardin said. "Also, from customer surveys we've done, the greatest response we've had from riders is the access they've had to educational opportunities, both at Doña Ana Community College and New Mexico State University.

"In Las Cruces, an important consideration has been Ztrans' access to RoadRUNNER Transit and the services it offers. Ridership has steadily increased, and it's been a benefit for everyone who has used the service."

"I support this," Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Thomas added. Councilor Olga Pedroza also said her inclinations are to continue to support Ztrans.Hardin said Ztrans' service to Las Cruces includes trips at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fares are $2 each way, per trip, or $50 for a one-month pass. Hardin added Ztrans is considering an increase in the one-way fares to $3.

The New Mexico Park and Ride program offers commuter bus service between Las Cruces and El Paso, and a separate route between Las Cruces and White Sands Missile Range. But no other regional commuter bus service is available.

Hardin said Ztrans would like to use the new intermodal transit center the city of Las Cruces plans to open by the end of the month. He said adding a Ztrans stop at the intermodal center likely wouldn't affect the schedules it currently operates with.

City officials are also seeking other public transportation providers for the intermodal center. Last week, they said they intended to court Greyhound as a potential customer.

Hardin said Ztrans could consider expanding service to areas of Doña Ana County. Commissioner Wayne Hancock, who attended Monday's work session, said there is some mutual interest worth exploring.

"We've identified three stops we'd like to have in the county," said Hancock, identifying potential Ztrans stops in Organ, the Moongate subdivision, and another near La Clinica de Familia, off of U.S. Highway 70.

The county would have to enter into its own agreement with Ztrans.

City Manager Robert Garza said if the city agrees to provide $10,000 to subsidize Ztrans, it would come from the city's general fund. Last year, the city allocated $10,000 for the first year of the two-year pilot program. The city's subsidy pays only for Ztrans operations.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story